Social Media Growth: Amazing Visual Calculator

If you want to explain the power of social media to someone, this is simply a great tool.
In one simple calculator you can see a representation of how much information is shared via Facebook, Twitter, Google and more. The web of communication that we weave on a daily basis is simply staggering.

Of course if you share drivel, and you don't convey a solid brand story, all of this communication is for naught. But isn't that the case with any form of communication? For brands, it is about crafting a solid narrative and engaging in meaningful communication with consumers and potential consumers. But to convert a doubter in the power and potential of social media into a believer, start with this.

 

Three Most Important (And Simple) Rules For Social Media

Yes, three simple rules, but first a bit of context.

I am asked regularly to speak on social media communications and management. They are seeking for me to help frame the role that the evolving social media world is having on brands, consumers, purchasing... Really, everything and everyone. In this ongoing work with clients, I have formed various guides and offered lots of advice. In this quest to offer solutions, I kept deleting slides and boiling the information down further and further. I finally arrived at one simple piece of advice with three rules. Thus far, I have yet to find someone who can break them.

It's true if it's on a t-shirt!

But first, a bit of an aside. I am NOT a Social Media expert. Do I work a lot within social media channels? Yes. Do I actively test and use the latest social media channels and tools? Absolutely. However, I still believe that anyone billing themselves as a "Social Media Expert" should be viewed with skepticism. I advise anyone looking to engage an expert in social media to ask them about their experience not in social media, but about their experience in public relations, communication, journalism, brand strategy and storytelling. The lack of the ability to convey a coherent idea and to contextualize situations is the biggest challenge, not finding the latest app.



Now, on to it...

The Three Most Important Rules in Social Media


1.   Be Responsive

Ensure that you not only have a process for monitoring social media, but be prepared to quickly engage when conversations do start. Many people still assume that their social media messages will go unanswered by companies. Prompt engagement, even bad news, will diffuse many problems before they grow. 

2.   Be Honest

This should go without saying, but it is the rule most broken. Follow the same rules you should follow in public relations. Clearly and simply explain what you are trying to convey. Brevity and simplicity is key, but distorting the truth is an absolute no no. Communication, even Tweets, live forever now. Lack of honesty will come back to get you.

3.   Be Authentic

Use your own life experiences as an example. Let's pick on the airlines for a minute. How many times have you heard the same pat corporate statement to address something bad? "Our policy clearly states..." This is usually followed by some very bad news and a hollow apology. Corporate policies have a place and are necessary at times. However, if you can deliver the news in human terms, use your name, apologize in a real way. This also goes for the terrible auto responses by companies. People are smart enough to know an auto-response. It is worth having a smart, educated (and if possible witty) person on the other end responding with real typed words.   

BONUS:  Anyone who attempts to validate their social media expertise by saying what their Klout Score is, or casually mentioning how many Twitter Followers they have deserves a quick, but powerful, kick in the ass.
Instead, look at what the person is communicating, how they are communicating it and what the response is.

The Best 5:30 of Your Day: After Your Final Status Update

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Adam Ostrow, editor in chief of Mashable, gives us a great topic to consider as we celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). What happens to your online "life" after you are gone? Now this is certainly not the most enjoyable topic, but it is a very important one. Facebook claims more than 800 million active users. The latest statistics I could find via the World Fact Book estimate that 55.3 million people die annually. That is two people every second. Given that we are about to hit the seven billion population mark, many of the newly deceased are not social media users. However, a large number are active on social media, thus the number of deceased users grow exponentially. 


This gives us a lot to ponder. What is the role of online media? Does Facebook, Twitter, Blogs all exist just for the living? Could they become memorials to the deceased? A modern way for the departed to remain in our collective consciousness and be remembered? Those of us active in following social media and technology trends are quick to point out that all information you share on the Internet should be considered permanent and public. Does this apply after death? 


Watch Mr. Ostrow's video below and start to ask yourself if you have or will use social media to remember people lost in your circles. How will this impact the amount of information archived? How should online groups such as Facebook handle archiving? What opportunities are out there for creating a more robust remembrance in "the cloud" for those that want it?  

Now I wonder how many presenters on the TED site are no longer with us in body? 

Adam Ostrow: After your final status update

Most Valuable Digital Consumers: An Infographic

Nielsen recently released an interesting infographic related to how consumers use social media.

They followed that up with one highlighting mobile use and local social media engagement. 

Not surprising is that 64% of parents use social media to learn about brands before purchase. 

The group most likely to comment on social media posts are age 20-27. What this means to me is that looking solely at analytics and judging who is influenced is the wrong approach. There are a lot of lurkers who don't interact much but are influenced by social media. 

This is especially true in localized and mobile. The growth of people using mobile devices to find a business or product is growing exponentially. The days of focusing active mobile and local engagement in key high-use markets such as San Francisco are gone. 

Creating an effective, if not robust, presence is ideal. I posted recently on how curating your presence is the key to social media success. This is especially true when you understand how and where consumers are engaging with your online presence.

Understanding how people engage with your brand online is important, but if you don't know your customer and have a strong brand all of your social media activation will be wasted.   

via NielsenWire

Via NielsenWire

Via NielsenWire

Curating is the Key to Social Media Success

Recently I wrote about the benefits of "curating your life" in the post Buy Less, Benefit More. The theory is that by simplifying your life, buying fewer but more meaningful things will improve your life. I also posit that retailers and business will benefit from more consumers leading smaller, more meaningful lives.

Today I want to talk briefly about your social media life. Well, your brands social media life. Most experts contend that you are doing your brand a disservice by not embracing the social media world fully. They will talk about multiple touch points and active and passive engagement. Indeed, it is true that you need to be available and accessible via social media. Geo-locating is also crucial for most retailers in this new world. A new study by JiWire that we referenced yesterday in the post Your Mom Buys More Online Than You, clearly shows that the majority of consumers research and find information about your products online. They study reviews and price compare, they geo-locate to find the nearest retailer and increasingly they buy online. But there is a problem with this.

When you build social media channels for your business, you are creating rooms for consumers to experience your products and services. Those virtual rooms must be branded, updated, staffed and managed. Just as you would not open a retail store and then ignore it for months, you must actively engage and manage your virtual store. A brand management plan must be created. Staff must be trained and customers responded to. ROI must be assessed. Investments must be made. That is where we get to the curated part.

I am not saying that any business should abandon a channel in social media. However, depending upon budget and ability you may have to consider converting some social media channels to sign posts. Feeder areas that direct people to an actively managed "room" where they can gain the contact and brand experience you want them to have. That does not mean that you still shouldn't actively monitor all of your social media channels. After all, you don't control your social media rooms fully. Others have the ability to influence for you. For effectively monitoring your online reputation and activity we have been excited to explore Datasift, a real-time data feed monitor. 

Finally, curating what you convey to your customers is vital. Mark Twain was once credited with saying "I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time." Just as in Mr. Twain's time, curating your message takes time and is hard work, but it is more valuable than ever. Clear and on-brand messaging will set you apart from the cluttered world of social media. Create a curated and managed social media life, align that with a curated offline presence that matches and then run both as you would a great retail store and you will be on the way to success.    

Your Mom Buys More Online Than You

There is some interesting findings in a new study of how consumers use mobile devices.

In a study by JiWire, a location-based online media company, we learn that more are using location-based content to find a business versus connect with others. Even fewer are checking in at locations. However, a majority are willing to reveal their location to gain more information about a business or to gain an offer. In a big leap from previous studies, a full 53% of those surveyed say that they plan to use their mobile device for their holiday shopping this season. All great trends for social media marketing and mobile marketing.

The most surprising statistics are when you look at the data by generations. The infographic below from JiWire summarizes the results well. Simply put, Generation X, and those up to age 54, are much more likely to make purchases via their mobile device. They are also almost twice as likely to research using their mobile device and then purchase in store. Granted the spending power of those aged 35-54 is greater than those 18-34, but the results seem to confirm the comfort level that older mobile users have has increased dramatically. This makes sense considering that most people over the age of 35 have been using mobile devices and shopping online for up to 20 years. 

As marketers, what does this mean for us?

1. Location-based information is a must for your business. Even if it is passive, businesses must have online location presence with details and links to their other social media and online presence.

2. Retailers must align their social media and online brand with their bricks-and-mortar presence. It is clear that consumers view your brand as your brand,. If one does not relate to the other you are in trouble and they will question their potential purchase.

3. Active engagement and response in social media is crucial. With a near majority researching items online before buying, having an active engagement and response protocol is crucial. View social media engagement as sales staff in your store.

4. Monitoring your third-party product reviews and earned media is vital. Tracking and reporting of online product evaluations, reviews and blog commentary is vital. Develop a plan for engagement as response.     

Ultimately, this simply reinforces the convergence of channels as it relates to your brand. You cannot neglect one outlet anymore.  

Update: Google+ is Emptying Out

Google certainly did not want to hear the latest news on usage.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Google+ traffic is off 60% since September 20th. that was the day they opened it to everyone and removed the invite only tag. The site experienced a huge traffic surge of over 1,200% that day, but has since dropped consistently.       

I originally wrote about the concerns of the new social media site here: Google+, Party of No One? 

But a funny thing happened on the way to world domination. It appears that for all the members signing up, few are actually hanging out in the Hangouts. As reported by Dan Reimold for MediaShift, Google+ "is worse than a ghost town." While actual details on traffic and usage are hard to come by, more anecdotal evidence is suggesting that the assumptions of lack of volume is in fact the case. 

In that post, I did relay that media and news outlets are embracing it and gave some examples. There is no way to definitively prove that that sub-set of users are still engaged or not.  

Offering a few more thoughts on the API growth and other Hangout features in this post: Did the Cool Kids Just Arrive at the Google+ Party?

 The next few weeks will be a litmus test for the social network. Will the opening of Google+ to the 'general public' spur it past the "must engage daily" tipping point? Just as important is the announcement of the new API Hangout. Allowing third-party application development could certainly kick the place into high gear. new features are being launched as well that hold a great deal of potential.

Right now it looks like the excitement of Facebook Timeline is winning.
The already heavily invested Facebook user is finding it hard to create a new virtual social media world in Google+.

Simply put, there will have to be a major effort to convince people to shift their primary usage to Google+. An app that allows easy transfer of content from Facebook to Google+ would be one way. Another option would be for Google to focus on making it a news and media driven social media site. Google has a lot of work ahead of them to make Google+ a viable challenge to Facebook.

The Yelp Effect

Article first published as The Yelp Effect: Leveling the Playing Field for Independent Restaurants on Technorati.

 A new study by the Harvard Business School seems to show that Yelp.com is helping to level the playing field for independent restaurants. The unique study shows that for every one-star rating increase in a restaurant review on the site, a restaurant achieved a 5-9% sales increase. This was not the case for chain or multi-unit establishments. Thus we are seeing a clear independent bias in consumer activation from Yelp. The study, available at http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-016.pdf uses Seattle as their study area.

When you dig into the numbers, it becomes apparent that Yelp has certainly allowed independent restaurants with limited marketing budgets to gain a presence in the marketplace more broad than they would have had otherwise. Prior to the proliferation of Yelp and other self-review sites, more traditional media was limited in the number of restaurants they reviewed. This allowed a few to gain wide exposure, while most went unnoticed to the masses. Chain restaurants did not benefit from Yelp primarily because they are already in the paid media channels establishing their message. Thus, you cannot benefit from an "organic" reputation while also controlling your reputation via paid media.

This success cannot be all attributed to Yelp however. The market they used for their study is a very strong independent restaurant city. It also is a tech savvy city with higher internet and social media penetration than the National average. During the study period we have also witnessed a strong growth in the "locavore" movement. The media coverage of this trend certainly has benefited independent restaurateurs. Finally, while Yelp is a popular site (nearly 500,000 daily unique users) when you break the searches down to local metro areas it is hardly a majority of patrons using their service. So what can we learn from this?

No one channel can make a restaurant a success. A clear brand message is still key. Establish that message via social media and utilize Yelp as a validation source. Reward loyal customers and turn them into brand advocates, extolling the qualities of the experience not just in an online review, but via social media and offline social circles. In short, Yelp is a tool and a reflection of the overall experience.



   

Angry Birds Stealing My Wallet?

Angry Birds are Everywhere

The Atlantic recently published an article, Estimating the Damage to the U.S. Economy Caused by Angry Birds, that caused quite a stir.

In the article, Alexis Madrigal offers up how much American productivity is lost by employees playing Angry Birds at work. He uses a a variant of a calculation that a consulting firm has used to determine lost productivity from the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I am not here to question his math, just the basis of the assumption of "lost productivity." 

In my professional career thus far, I have been a lowly account coodinator at a huge advertising agency and the director of accounts, with large teams of employees. I have also been the president of a region of a company and an entrepreneur of a tiny startup. Through all of these career moves I can assure you of one thing. People at work don't need a specific smartphone game to lose productivity. They (myself included) are perfectly good at seeking out ways to distract themselves from work. Referencing the hot new game is simply a device that journalists use to get the readers attention. An article titled, "Various Means Employed by People to Lose Productivity" isn't nearly as exciting as picking the hot new game or industry.    

Courtesy of The Atlantic

If we look back through the archives of 'lost productivity" articles I assure you they list causes such as the personal computer, phone, water cooler, windows, air conditioning, co-ed working environment... and so on. Therefore, the lost productivity idea is a fallacy as it relates to specific new technology advances. What the advent of smartphones and social media has done, is make it easier to hide the actual activity from their boss. But banning Angry Birds and social media doesn't solve the problem. It only leads more secretive activity and alternative forms of lost productivity, such as people standing around talking about playing Angry Birds!

I am certain there are plenty of great Human Resources professionals that could chime in and offer a great deal of suggestions on how to increase productivity in the workplace. I am not going to attempt to tackle the complete productivity issue. I do feel that it all stems from proper supervision and pro-active management with a human understanding of how people work and live.

I do want to take a minute and address the Angry Birds and larger social media challenge that employers face. How to best solve it? 

Employers should stop directing their IT staff to block offending games and sites. They should stop issuing corporate policies designed to prevent game play and social media (specifically Facebook and Twitter) usage at work. Instead, they should look at their customers and understand that they are probably using the same channels of social media and games. Enterprising marketing officers should be challenging their company to see how they can turn their most avid game playing employees and heavy Facebook users into defacto developers, idea generators and online brand advocates. By engaging with employees about their online activity, a company can better understand changing trends. If employees as unafraid to talk openly about what they are doing, ideas can be shared. 

- Integrate social gaming into company team building.

- Offer incentives for employees that bring ideas on integrating company products into social gaming or online advertising

- Focus less on restricting activities of employees and more on accountability of delivering results.

- Offer at work education on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. 

- Conduct education on what information employees can share about the company and its products. 

- Let social sharing about your company occur naturally.

- If you have active social media marketing staff already, they should add monitoring and reporting of social media activity to their responsibilities. 

There is a great deal of potential in leveraging the ideas from social gaming and the actual reach of social media. If handled proactively and positively by a company, you will be creating a large innovation team and social media marketing team from your existing employees. 

Google+, Party of No One?

Google opened up registration for it's Google+ social network to everyone today. That might be the catalyst that it needs to drive usage and propel Hangouts, and it might not. There is no doubt that the Google name propelled Google+ to near cult status at launch. Social media types bragged about invites and being a first adopter. Volumes were written nearly overnight explaining how this was a game changer. Google+ was the future. Facebook was going the way of Myspace. Twitter was dead... Most entertaining was that the death tomes were written and spread on the very networks that were supposedly dying. 

This Hangout is Awesome!

But a funny thing happened on the way to world domination. It appears that for all the members signing up, few are actually hanging out in the Hangouts. As reported by Dan Reimold for MediaShift, Google+ "is worse than a ghost town." While actual details on traffic and usage are hard to come by, more anecdotal evidence is suggesting that the assumptions of lack of volume is in fact the case. So what does this mean for the ever fracturing social media world?

First, it proves that the raucous social media landscape is the Wild West. While some continue to focus on niche applications, LinkedIn for example, others continue to drop into the general consumer arena. Over the next few years many corporate obituaries will be written, but the winners will be very strong players with some incredible applications. Buckle up, it is going to be a fun ride.    

It also reaffirms that Google is not King Midas. Like every other business, they will need to work hard to build relevance and be very strategic about it. If Google+ was actually a VC funded start-up void of the Google connection, I believe that it would have worked much harder to create category buzz. It would have launched a branding campaign and reinforced the natural occurring brand advocacy. In short, a boot strapped start-up would have fought and engaged earlier. They would have nurtured actively some initial category users. 

The next few weeks will be a litmus test for the social network. Will the opening of Google+ to the 'general public' spur it past the "must engage daily" tipping point? Just as important is the announcement of the new API Hangout. Allowing third-party application development could certainly kick the place into high gear. new features are being launched as well that hold a great deal of potential.  

Without a doubt, there are some exciting things occurring on Google+. It has some exciting features and is being adopted in very exciting ways by journalists the world over. The journalism potential is huge, and very exciting as we look at media convergence. 

The University of Missouri School of Journalism has taken the lead in the Google+ newsy world. KOMU TV, the school-owned NBC affiliate has embraced it 100%. They recently launched a 4p.m. hour-long web newscast. The U_News@4 anchored by Sarah Hill uses Google+ as a core component of the news. This application holds the potential to truly transform local television. While Google+ is a core component of this news program, it remains to be seen if it will become the vehicle or if another outlet will co-op the segment as more news outlets follow Mizzou's lead. I will write more about this specific item soon. TV NewsCheck has done a nice job covering it's launch thus far. 

Worth it in spite of our terrible graphics package

Sample of U_News@4

I look forward to following, engaging and seeing where this all goes. Based on what we have seem thus far, Google+ will have a future, but it may be far different than the Facebook killer it was purported to be. 

Until then. Get to Google+, grab a Hangout and see if it is indeed a party of one. 

 

          

The Best 4:27 of Your Day: How to Make a Splash in Social Media

This is a story about Mr. Splashy Pants. The whale that hijacked a social media and web campaign for Greenpeace... and launched a movement. It is a very entertaining talk by Alexis Ohanian of Reddit.com. His talk reminds us of some very important things to remember when you are marketing or promoting services on the web.

First, while deep pockets help, the Internet and social media is still one of the most level playing fields there is. A great idea, story, photo or simple message can gain traction and become a movement a meme or a t-shirt slogan.

Second, Be genuine, be yourself and have a sense of humor about it all. This is especially true for brands and companies. If you give your fans a bit of ownership and flexibility while also engaging with them you will come out ahead. You can't always anticipate how even the most well thought out campaign will unfold on the Internet, but if you monitor, engage and adapt while maintaining a sense of humor, you will come out ahead.

These are lessons that our friends at Kansas State University should have learned from their recent EcoKat PR disaster.

This is a fun one people. Enjoy Mr. Splashy...

Alexis Ohanian: How to make a splash in social media